Month: December 2012

Just like last year, here’s a summary of the restaurants I reviewed in 2012, grouped into two categories: recommended (rating > 6), and not worth a special visit (rating between 5 and 6). As a reminder, I usually mention decor and service in my posts, but only the food is being rated. Luckily, no establishment […]

Dear readers, I wish you all happy holidays, and a lot of success in the kitchen for your dinner plans! Of course, this is the perfect time of the year to try some of my most festive recipes! Start your meal with my deluxe Salad Olivier or King Crab Salad. If you prefer hot appetizers, […]

I’ve previously posted a pepper dolma recipe from Azerbaijan, but today’s dish hails from Uzbekistan and is prepared fairly differently. Shurpa means soup or broth in Uzbek, and the stuffed vegetables here are served in a flavorful broth. My recipe is loosely adapted from Hakim Ganiev‘s Oriental Feast, but I’ve made many changes, such as the use […]

As a holiday surprise, a program ad was placed for Food Perestroika at the Dalton Chorale Winter Concert by my partner (she’s an alto). They sang works by Franz Joseph Haydn, the famed Austrian composer (who, incidentally, spent the majority of his career under the employment of the wealthy Hungarian Esterházy family). It was a beautiful concert. […]

A note about my restaurant reviews: New York City counts many Eastern European restaurants scattered across the five boroughs, most of them ignored by restaurant critics and diners alike. I intend to visit as many as I can and report! Recently, I reviewed Café Glechik of Sheepshead Bay, a mostly Ukrainian restaurant. Try as I might, it’s impossible […]

When it comes to making kebabs, duck probably isn’t the first meat that comes to mind. And yet, duck breast has all it takes to be a success on the grill: tender meat and an ample layer of fatty skin. In fact, by assembling two breast halves together, the meat is completely wrapped in fat, […]